Taking the Bullet
by corneroffandom
Summary: NXT 8/7/14. Cass is always there for Enzo, sometimes more than he even realizes.


Enzo is sore, but happy. They'd won against Tye Dillinger and Jason Jordan, though his memories of _how_ are more than a little fuzzy. After a quick interview, they get in the car and head back home, Enzo's forehead resting against the passenger side window. He's still out of it and Cass, he thinks, won't mind the quiet for a little bit so he just relaxes there until they arrive at their apartment a little while later. One of the benefits of competing in the same area they live in, it never takes that long to go from point A to point B.

Dropping keys and their gear bag on the table by the door, Cass watches as Enzo slumps down on the couch and rests an arm over his eyes. "I'm gonna go shower, Zo. You alright?" he asks, lightly nudging Enzo's leg with his foot on his way past the couch.

"Mm hmm, that's fine," he sighs, tired and relieved to be home. "I'm good. See ya later." It's quiet, the running water in the background, kind of soothing, but instead of dozing off, Enzo starts to wake up, as always, trying to remember more of the conclusion to the match. Wins, honestly, are kinda far and few in between sometimes, and he likes to remember each one, catalogue it away somewhere special for those moments when the business gets hard and it hurts to get up in the morning and he can't remember why he ever signed up for this.

Rubbing at his face, he sits up and grabs for his phone, searching WWE's twitter timeline. _Yep,_ they'd uploaded a quick clip of the match in the past half hour, so he plays it and watches, eyes wide, as Jason Jordan takes a running shoulderblock towards him just for Cass to slip in and catch the hit right in the side, sparing Enzo from further pain. The match is clinched in their favor when Cass, still struggling to take in a deep breath, slips inside and boots Jason hard in the face while he has a motionless Enzo up to finish him off, the referee counting the pin before Tye could scramble in and stop this.

"Damn," Enzo exhales, shaking his head. _All that Cass had said in the interview... eggin' me on, convincin' me I was great... and he was why we won?_ His lips twitch up into a faint smile before he looks over the couch, listening until the water turns off. Getting to his feet, he nudges his shoes off and runs his hands through his hair, waiting until Cass is out of the shower and in his room to head towards his own bedroom, collecting some well worn, comfortable shorts and their first wrestling merch shirt to change into later after he catches a quick shower too, staring down at it.

He's still sitting there, lost in thought, when Cass knocks on his door. "Ya decent, Zo?"

He barks out a laugh, drawn from his thoughts. "Yeah, man, c'mon in."

Cass fills out most of the doorway, his hair still damp from the shower, looking more comfortable now that he's washed off the grime from the match. "How you doin'?"

Enzo chuckles and stands up. "I'm doin' fine," he opts to answer with a small shrug. "How you doin'?"

"Never better. We won tonight." Cass reaches out and runs his hands through Enzo's hair, mussing it up even further and laughing when Enzo bats him away, only pretending to be as annoyed as he looks.

"Wouldn'ta done it without you, big guy." Enzo holds his phone out and replays the video, watching Cass' face closely as he relives taking the hit for Enzo and still manages to ensure the victory for them.

He shrugs, mouth twitching up into a small smile, his dimples showing. "You'd've done the same for me, Zo."

Enzo nods, hating that he'll probably never get the opportunity because, well, he's Enzo and Cass is Cass and Cass never needs defending like he does. "Well, yeah. I woulda." Sighing, he steps forward and throws his arms around Cass natural as breathing and squeezes him tight, waiting for the usual half-hug he usually gets in return, Cass patting his back calmly until he pulls back and brushes past him out into the hallway. "Gonna take my shower now. You'd better have left me some decent hot water!"

Cass' laugh, warm and familiar, follows Enzo into the bathroom and eases some of his tumultous emotions.


End file.
